Husband to Irene and father to Chloe and Raymie, Rayford Steele is a respected airline pilot. He is confident, and thinks of himself as handsome, intelligent, and successful. His first name is unique, and his surname connotes masculinity and strength with the association to “steel.” He functions as one of the protagonists of the novel and is represented as a flawed but well-intentioned character. At the beginning of the novel, he is considering initiating an affair with Hattie. However, he has not acted on it and is soon repentant. He also reminisces on the failings in his relationships with Irene and Raymie, regretting his dismissal of his wife and son’s faith. He expresses genuine grief at their disappearance, indicating his love for them.

Like Chloe and Buck, his main progress as a character in Left Behind is a progression from skepticism to belief. Organized and analytical by nature, Rayford finds that his primary barriers to faith are the importance he places on intellect as an aspect of his identity, and his assumption that his wife and other believers are not as intelligent as he is. He views himself as “brighter” than Irene and characterizes himself as a believer in “rules, systems, laws, patterns, things you could see and feel and hear and touch” (5).